To link to the entire object, paste this link in email, IM or documentTo embed the entire object, paste this HTML in websiteTo link to this page, paste this link in email, IM or documentTo embed this page, paste this HTML in website

iltotoi
(tlcal W"
The Big Timber
«fc9"
O* o^>
VOL. 50 NO. 11
BIG TIMBER, SWEET GRASS COUNTY, MONTANA, THURSDAY, JANUARY 4, 1940
PRICE FIVE CENTS
TOLL OF EARTHQUAKE IN TURKEY
EXPECTED TO HIT SIXTY THOUSAND
ANKARA. Turkey, Dec. 28.—Three
additional tremors, subzero weather
and blizzard winds which spread
fires added to the damage and
panic of the Anatolian earthquake
Thursday as officials gave at least
60,000 as their preliminary estimate of casualties.
Of the casualties perhaps 20,000
were counted as dead. Temperatures '22 -degrees below zero and
fierce winds whipped from the
Black sea claimed many victims
among the hundreds of thousands
of homeless driven into the fields
and mountain fastnesses.
Whole villages were buried under
the steep cliffs of the Janik mountains which skirt the Black sea
shore on the Turkish - Armenian
border.
In the Erzincan region, high in
the mountains of Armenia, alone
there were 42,000 killed and injured.
Every building in the district of
Erzincan was in ruins, and fires
were raging. A message from the
governor general said many were
frozen to death.
The water supply was frozen and
prevented effective Are fighting.
Reports from other districts indicated the death toll elsewhere
was far above previous estimates,
but the chaos in communications
was so great it was impossible to
obtain many details of the catastrophe.
Such details as officials were able
to obtain, however, painted a terrifying picture.
Water and gas mains were ripped
asunder as the earth bulged in
some places and burst open in gaping crevices in others.
The measure of the disaster in
Anatolia, a region often visited by
earthquakes—along with the fear
of epidemics as a result of the difficulties of getting relief to the
stricken thousands, grew as the
day advanced.
Fragmentary reports from Erzincan province said virtually every
one of the 16,000 inhabitants of the
ancient town of that name was
killed or injured.
They were trapped in their beds
by the first shocks.
The walls of just one building—
the great barracks — were left
standing. The town was destroyed'
by another quake in 1784.
In Sivas Vilayet, the little town
of Zara had 1,500 inhabitants killed and 1.000 houses destroyed.
The quakes caused frightful destruction in Hank, Bayburt, Suseh-
ri, Sharkishla, Kuyuluhissar, Terd-
can, Trabzon, Vakfikebir, Machke,
and Kirasun.
LIQUOR BUSINESS MADE
RECORD ON DECEMBER 23
HELENA, Dec. 30. —The largest
volume of business handled by
Montana liquor stores in one day
since the inception of the state
liquor law was done Saturday, December 23, the liquor control board
announced Friday.
Total business for the Saturday
before Christmas amounted to
$151,000.
L. M. A. Wass, state liquor administrator, said one of the principal factors in the sudden spurt
probably was the weather. Sales for
the holiday season were running
about normal until the cold wave
moved in. Then business rocketed
on the final pre-Christmas day the
stores were open.
The board Friday declared a
$450,000 December dividend and announced that in addition there
would be about $60,000 available
from the liquor excise tax and
about $10,000 from the beer tax,
making more than half a million
dollars which goes into the general
fund during December.
The board voted to close the
state liquor store at Glacier park
station, adjacent to the Blackfeet
Indian reservation.
Officials feared that hundreds of
thousands were wandering in open
fields without shelter, prey of constant snowfall and bitter cold.
The ministers of health and interior left Ankara for Erzincan and
several medical squads were sent
to the stricken region from near-by
Vilayets, A national emergency
committee was gathering funds and
directing rescue work.
Martial law was proclaimed
throughout the quake district and
military and police squads patrolled
with orders to shoot anyone caught
looting.
As special trains arrived with
nurses, doctors and relief workers
many children were found hiding
in the woods, in a miserable condition from cold, hunger and fright.
. Panic still was strong, and many
of the population were seen prostrate in prayer before collapsed
mosques.
The first report was that total
quake casualties for the whole of
Anatolia had been estimated unofficially at 9,000 persons.
As advices continued to trickle
into the capital, officials revised
the estimate and said there were
indications the dead would go far
Continued on Page Four
WHEAT EXPORT SUBSIDY
PROGRAM ABANDONED
WASHINGTON, Dec. 29. —Prospects of a short crop and a wide
spread between domestic and world
price levels led the agriculture department to abandon its wheat export subsidy program today.
Secretary Wallace announced
that after 12 noon (mountain
standard time) next Wednesday,
the agriculture department would
pay a subsidy only on the export of
flour from Pacific coast ports to
the Philippine islands.
Since inauguration of the program in August, 1938. in an effort
to regain and hold the United
States' '"fair s h a r e" of foreign
markets, the department has paid
a bounty on 128,250,000 bushels of
wheat at a cost of about $33,000,-
000. The subsidy rate on some recent sales was as high as 33 cents
a bushel.
Unless there is a drastic change
in the relation between American
and foreign wheat prices, little or
no additional wheat will move
abroad, officials said. Domestic
prices have been running between
30 and 35 cents a bushel above
world prices, thereby placing American grain at a market disadvantage.
Wallace credited the subsidy program and the government's commodity loan policies with preventing domestic prices from falling
to the world level.
MONTANA RANKS HIGH IN
FEDERAL AID RECEIVED
HELENA, Dec. 30. — The federal
government loaned and spent more
than $89,000,000 in Montana during
fiscal year 1939, which ended last
June 30.
Miles Romney, state director of
the office of government reports,
said Saturday 1939 disbursements
totaled $89,131,357, compared with
$79,441,955 spent in fiscal 1938.
Of the total, $28,267,234 was loaned, and $60,864,123 grants - in - aid
and other expenditures.
In addition the federal housing
administration insured $2,050,087
worth of housing improvement
notes and mortgages in the state
during the year.
The largest amount of loans was
made by the farm credit administration and the greatest amount of
direct expenditures was disbursed
by the WPA.'
Montana ranked twentieth in all
states in the amount of loans and
seventeenth in the amount of expenditures.
Five Hundred Persons at Simpson
Hanging at Ryegate on Saturday
RYEGATE, Dec. 30.—Lee Simpson,
51-year-old Ryegate rancher who
marked 16 persons for death, died
on the gallows for slaying a man
not on his purge list.
He was executed for the murder
of Deputy Sheriff Arthur Burford
in a gun battle at the Simpson
ranch April 14, 1938.
The trap was sprung at 2:14 a. m.,
and Simpson was pronounced dead
at 2:30 a. m.
Sheriff E. L. Dolve, whose name
headed Simpson's "purge list,"
sprang the trap, plummeting the
condemned man into eternity.
Dressed in dark trousers and a
gray shirt, Simpson stepped directly from a courthouse window to the
gallows steps.
He climbed to the scaffold accompanied by the Rev. E. L. Mills
of Roundup and Deputy Sheriff
Verne Meigs of Livingston.
Mr. Mills said, "by special request of Mr. Simpson, I will offer a
brief prayer."
The prayer concluded, Sheriff
Dolve said, "No one is to speak
when Mr. Simpson says anything.
We want no response from the
audience."
Turning to Simpson he asked,
Edward B. Douthett Located In Jail at
Wrangcllt Alaska, Through Finger Prints
County Attorney E. O. Overland
was notified yesterday that Edward
B. Douthett, charged with rape upon the person of Mrs. Don' Geiger
at Grey Cliff the night of November
5, 1937, is now in jail at Wrangell,
Alaska, where G-men Identified
him by finger prints.
He is serving a sentence in jail at
that place on a federal charge, and
will not be released until the latter part of March. He will then be
returned to this city for trial on
a charge of rape.
On Sunday, November 6, 1937,
Douthett, who had been keeping
his eye open following the assault of the night before, saw the
Geigers drive into town, and immediately took a car belonging to
Virginia Langston, who had left
the auto at the Douthett home
when she started east, and skipped.
The following day the sheriff's office at Billings reported that
Douthett had driven the Langston
car into a garage of that city
about midnight Sunday.
That was the last heard of him
except occasional reports to G-men
that he had been at various places.
However, they continued to be on
the lookout and finally located him
as above stated.
At the time of the alleged rape,
Geiger and his wife were living in
Columbus and were furnishing
music for dances. They are now in
Helena, where she is a federal employe.
President Delivers Message Personally to
Opening Session of Congress Wednesday
WASHINGTON, Jan. 3.—A stronger national defense financed by
new taxes, a continuation of new
deal policies, and a national unity
reinforced by "calmness, tolerance
and cooperative wisdom," were urged upon congress Wednesday by
President Roosevelt, m a message
personally delivered to the newly-
convened session.
These things, backed by an extension of the administration's authority to reduce tariffs by agreement with other countries, should
be sufficient, he said, to protect
the nation against any tendency
toward dictatorship at home and
"world - wide forces of disinegra-
tion" as well.
For the rest. Mr. Roosevelt pledged anew his determination to keep
the United States out of the war
abroad, and let it be known, to the
ironical cheers of the republican
membership that the budget to be
submitted Thursday would include
a reduction in all important items
except that of national defense.
Highlights of President Roosevelt's annual message to congress
were:
On national defense: "Substantial increases based not on panic
but on common sense" will be asked for the army and navy.
On peace: The United States
must "be a potent and active factor
in seeking the reestablishment of
peace."
On war: Roots of the war are to
be found in mismanagement of social and economic forces "u n t i 1
they have resulted in revolution,
dictatorship and war."
On taxes: "I am asking the congress to levy sufficient additional
taxes to meet the emergency spending for national defense."
On unemployment: Idle youth
"must be an especial concern of
democratic government."
On dictatorship: "The philosophy
of force . . . originated in almost
every case in the necessity for
drastic action to improve internal
conditions."
On the United States participation in the war: "The United States
will not become involved" militarily.
On the budget: The only increase
is for defense, "practically all other
important items show a reduction."
• On reciprocal trade treaties: "The
trade agreements act should be extended" to aid in organizing durable peace.
FARM RUREAU
DATES IN COUNTY
Farm Bureau meetings are held
each month for the purpose of
stimulating interest socially and
for the betterment of the communities and county in an agricultural
way and to encourage cooperation
on all matters of public interest
concerning the general welfare of
the county. Farmers are urged to
attend these meetings and everyone is welcome.
The schedule for the next meetings is as follows:
Deer Creek school house, January
5, Subject, soil conservation.
Chas. Mosier's house, January 9.
subjects, weed control and rural
electrification.
Glasston school house, January
19, subject soil conservation. ,,
Rapstad school house, January 26,
subject, soil conservation.
Howie school house, January 31,
subject, soil conservation.
HIGHWAY IMPROVEMENT
MONEY ALLOCATED
CHARLES EDISON NAMED
SECRETARY OF NAVY
' WASHINGTON, Dec. 30. —President Rosevelt advanced Charles
Edison to secretary of the navy
Saturday, putting an end to speculation over the delayed choice for
the cabinet post vacated by the
death last July of Secretary Claude
Swanson.
Assistant secretary for more than
three years. Edison had been acting head of the navy department
for nearly six months.
The appointment will be submitted formally to the senate for confirmation after congress convenes
next week.
Edison, wealthy, unassuming son
of the famous electrical inventor.
Thomas A. Edison, has supervised
the navy's intensive warship building program as assistant secretary
•since Nov. 17, 1936. He is 49.
"Have you anything to say?"
Simpson answered, "I want to
praise God I am being taken out of
this world of sin tonight and I feel
confident that you people will meet
us all up there. God bless you all
"Pray for my loved ones. That is
all."
The black hood was slipped over
his head. As the noose was adjusted, a muffled, "Don't choke me,"
was heard.
. An instant later the trap was
sprung.
Almost until the march to the
gallows started, Simpson clung to
a faint hope that something would
save him even though his appeal
to Governor Roy E. Ayers for clemency had been denied.
As the trap was sprung the tense
crowd of 500 witnesses surged toward the gallows.
Dr. E. R. Fouts, county coroner,
and Dr. A. A. Bennett of Roundup
pronounced the man dead and the
body was taken to a mortuary here.
At no time did Simpson appear
to lose the composure he maintained from the time he heard the jury
I verdict which made the death sentence mandatory.
(Continued on pag* S)
WASHINGTON, Dec. 30. — The
federal works agency Saturday allocated $156,000,000 to 48 states, the
District of Columbia, Porto Rico
and Hawaii for highway Improvement and elimination of grade
crossings.
The projects were authorized by
congress on June 8, 1938, in an act
providing $115,000,000 for Improvement of the federal aid highway
system and its extensions through
cities; $15,000,000 for improvement
of secondary or feeder roads, and
$30,000,000 for elimination of hazards at railway grade crossings.
Allocations totaling $2,000,000 for
construction of roads on public
lands and federal reservations in 13
western states also were made.
Carmody said the new allocations
would finance the improvement of
approximately 9,786 miles on rural
portions of the federal aid system;
2,971 miles of secondary or "farm
to market roads, and 725 miles of
highway through municipalities.
He estimated that about 468 grade
crossings would be eliminated or
improved.
The allocations include:
Montana, $3,031,660; Nebraska,
$3,154,631; Wyoming, $1,825,100.
The allotments of public land
funds included:
Montana, $107,034; Wyoming,
$165,990.
HOLIDAY DEATH TOLL
UP TO USUAL FORM
EIGHTEEN DIE WHEN FIRE RAZES
MINNEAPOLIS APARTMENT HOUSE
MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 3.—A cigarette tossed down a garbage chute
was blamed Wednesday night for
fire that claimed at least 18 lives
at the Marlborough apartment hotel in the worst disaster in this
city's history.
Only 12 victims had been identified as firemen prodded about in
the wreckage of the three-story,
45-year-old building, seeking the
bodies of possible additional victims.
Red Cross workers said there
were 114 persons in the building
when the fire broke out Of these.
18 were known dead, 24 were registered at hospitals, 53 had registered with the Red Cross as cither
uninjured or slightly injured, and
19 were unaccounted for.
First warning of the tragedy was
a rumbling explosion shortly before
6 a. m., followed almost instantly
by a burst of flame that choked the
halls and stairways and blocked escape of many of the residents.
The blast, said Arthur Spotts-
wood, head of the fire department's
fire prevention division, apparently
was caused by garbage smouldering
in a storage chute in the center of
the building, bursting into flame
and blowing out of the chute in a
"heat explosion." Spottswoocl said
the garbage probably was ignited
by a cigarette stub tossed down the
chute some hours earlier.
WHEELER FOR P.UESIDENT
CLUB BEING FORMED
HELENA, Dec. 29.—Formation of
a Wheeler for President club of
Montana has been announced by
J. Burke Clements, of Helena,
chairman of the state industrial
accident commission, who will serve
as president.
"Realizing the impetus of the
movement for Senator Wheeler as
a candidate for the democratic
nomination for president of the
United States, those of us in the
senator's home state determined to
launch this organization," Clements, a close friend of Senator
Wheeler, said upon his return from
Washington.
In Washington, Clements said,
he spent several days in conversations with the senator. -
"We are launching this club and
we're going after delegates to the
democratic national convention
even though we know Senator
Wheeler is an announced candidate for re-election in 1940 and expects to file his nomination petition shortly with the secretary of
state in Helena.
"We have been in communication with a large number of prominent Montana democrats who have
been asked to serve on the executive committee of our organization.
The response has been gratifying.
Barclay Craighead, former private secretary to Senator Wheeler,
will act as temporary secretary.
"We hope to carry out a swift
campaign of organization in Montana and then go into other states
where we will endeavor to obtain
instructed delegates."
MRS. ROOSEVELT REFUSES
NEWSPAPER GUILD JOB
FARLEY CALLS DEMOCRATS
TO MEET FEBRUARY 5
The old man with the scythe
lopped off more than 280 lives on
his way out.
Of this number of deaths in 42
states and the District of Columbia,
128 were caused by traffic accidents.
At least 22 saw fit to destroy themselves and 21 persons chose the
week end of the year's end to slay
others. Fires claimed 12 lives and
freezing, gas, falls, trains and
other elements caused 182 deaths.
California, with 32 deaths, was an
undisputed favorite of Father Time.
He took along 17 in traffic accidents,
six suicides and nine others.
The death list by states follows
Alabama 1, Arizona 3, Arkansas
2, Colorado 6, Connecticut 9, Delaware 2, District of Columbia 1,
Florida 3, Georgia 4, Illinois 20, Indiana 8, Kansas 1, Kentucky 6, Louisiana 9, Maine 1, Maryland. 4, Massachusetts 3, Michigan 14, Minnesota 5, Missouri 13, Montana 1, Nebraska 1, New Hampshire 1. New
Jersey 9, New Mexico 1, New York
16, North Carolina 8, Ohio 12. Oklahoma 5, Oregon 6, Pennsylvania 19,
South Carolina 2, South Dakota 2,
Tennessee 11, Texas 3. Utah 3. Virginia 2, Washington 9. West Virginia 3, Wisconsin 6, Wyoming 4.
SAYS HAPPY NEW YEAR
TO DELINQUENT DEBTORS
WASHINGTON, Dec. 30.—Chairman James A. Farley Friday called
a meeting of the democratic national committee for February 5
to settle the much discussed question of just when the party should
hold its nominating convention.
There has been talk in both major
parties of departing from the usual
practice of fixing the conventions
for June, with some influential
members of each advocating a
much later date and a short campaign.
GREAT FALLS, Dec. 29.—Frank
A. Bladorn is going to say "Happy
New Year" this time with something more than a broad smile.
Bladorn, a railroad engineer and
proprietor of a local hotel says he
is going to cancel the debts now
owed to him by more than 30 persons. He said some of the debtors
owe him for loans as high as $150.
In return, all he asks is that
each of the recipients of his generosity give him any documents they
have relating to debts.
Bladorn said the sums total about
$2,000.
"I wish to start the New Year
with a clean slate, and this will
Ri*e my debtors a better opportunity during the coming year," he
exDlaknod.
^.-^ 'j •
DENVER, Dec. 30.—Mrs. Eleanor
Roosevelt advised the Denver guild
of the American Newspaper guild
Saturday she could not accept a
nomination to succeed the late
Heywood Broun as president of the
American Newspaper guild.
Mrs Roosevelt, wife of the nation's president and a newspaper
columnist, was nominated for the
guild position Friday by the Denver guild's executive board.
Dick Henry, Denver guild president, received a telegram from Mrs.
Roosevelt which said:
"Absolutely impossible for me to
take fulltime job so could not even
consider the position you suggested."
The flames spread so r a p i d 1 v
through the brick-veneered building that many occupants had to
leap from windows. Several died
and many were injured jumping
from second and third-story windows.
Bodies of other victims, m a n y
charred beyond recognition, were
discovered later in tlie ruins.
Identified dead were:
Gust Mathis.
Mrs. Helen Franke, about 50.
Gerhart Franke.
Otto Franke, 25
Rene Franke, 19.
Edward Coovert, 10 months.
Mrs. Mabel Brown, 34.
Florence Hessing, 30.
George Jackley, 45.
Pinka Jackley, 41.
Clayton Weisell, 48.
Elbert Weisell. 47.
Every available piece of fire apparatus and ambulance answered
the alarm. The temperature was
five below zero, coldest here this
winter.
As firemen struggled to run ice-
coated hose lines to the building,
the scene was one of hysterical
tragedy. In the second and third
floor apartments men and women
smashed the glass out of windows
and leaned out, screaming for help.
Many jumped before ladders could
be put up to them.
Residents of rooms on the ground
floor scrambled through the windows to safety, aided by neighbors
and passersby who helped them to
reach shelter. Many were dressed
only in night clothes.
Otto Knaack. janitor at the apartment, said his first warning of the
fire came when he opened the door
of the boiler room and was knocked flat by an explosion that broke
all the windows in the room. By the
time he had run upstairs to rouse
his family, he said, the hallways
and stairs were already choked
with flames.
All that remained nf the building was the ice-covered shell. The
roof collapsed during the fire, and
most of the floors had fallen. Firemen feared they would find more
bodies under the debris.
Their search was spurred by the
fact that several persons known or
believed to have been inside when
the fire started were missing
Among them were Mrs. Nick Sund-
holm, whose husband, from his
hospital bed, told of leaping1 from
a second story window after she
refused to jump.
UNEMPLOYMENT IS
ECONOMIC PROBLEM
WASHINGTON, Dec. 29.— The
American Federation of Labor said
today that getting the unemployed
back to work was the No. 1 economic problem for 1940. and suggested a conference of business,
labor, farm and consumer representatives for co-operative action
to that end.
If industrial production could be
increased 25 per cent above the
1929 level, the AFL's monthly survey of business said, there would
be jobs for virtually all the 9,000,-
000 unemployed and a higher
standard of living for the entire
population.
"As we look forward to the task
of increasing production and putting the unemployed to work one
point stands out clearly," the review added. "Private industry cannot plan to increase production
without some assurance as to the
future.
"In the present circumstances,
with war in Europe and a presidential election ahead, certainty as to
the future is, of course, not possible. It is possible, however, for a
conference of responsible representatives from business, labor,
farmers and consumers to lay the
basis for co-operation to increase
production and thus to give more
assurance as to the future than
could otherwise be possible."
Southern California Trojans Win
Annual Rose Bowl Football Classic
ROSE BOWL, Pasadena, Calif..
Jan. 1.—The orange and white of
Tennessee drooped in defeat Monday night for the first time in two
long years, and there was gloom
and sadness in the Volunteer state
of the south, for the mighty Trojans of Southern California defeated its team.
Flashing a relentless attack that
soelled power and more power, the
Trojan giants of the west crushed
the valiant Vols, 14 to 0. in a game
that kept a howling, capacity
throng of 92,000 on edge for 60
minutes.
One savage burst of strength in
the second quarter broke the Tennessee record of never a score
against it, much less a defeat, in 16
games, and when the Vols turned
loose a whirlwind parade late in
the fourth period, luck was against
them.
A fumble, Southern California recovered—and the Warriors of Troy,
ringing up their sixth triumph in
this post-season classic, traveled 85
yards in 20 plays for the second
touchdown.
Hero of the Trojan victory was
the lad "who came back," Amblln*
Ambrose Schindled, 190 pounds of
battering ability from San Diego,
Calif., who scored the first touchdown and passed over the goal line
for the second.
On the receiving end of that pass,
which c a m e as darkness drifted
over the roaring throng, was Antelope Al Krueger, the substitute end
who caught? the pass that brought
defeat to Duke in this bowl one
year ago.
Tennessee with its star back,
George Cafego, playing intermittently but never up to his old form,
was unable to get across the 50-
yard stripe until early in the final
quarter. The offense that had
whipped 23 teams in succession
couldn't penetrate the Trojans.
Suddenly the Vols came to life in
the fourth period after they had
been forced back to the one-yard
line by Quarterback Grenville
Landsdell's coffin corner kick.
Johnny Butler, standing back in
the end zone, passed the team out
of danger, and the Vols roared on
in a sustained drive to the Trojan
29-yard line — and Bob Newman,
fullback, fumbled.
Roy Engle. Trojan sub, recovered
on his own 15, and the Warriors of
(Continued on page 8)

This collection encompasses the Big Timber Pioneer Newspaper published from 1893-2000.

Creator

Williams, Jerome

Type

text

Language

eng

Date Original

1940

Subject

Big Timber (Mont.), Sweet Grass County, (Mont.), Newspapers

Rights Management

Copyright to this collection is held by Yellowstone Newspaper Group, Livingston, Montana. Permission may be required for use and/or reproductions. Items published before 1923 are in the public domain.

Contributing Institution

Big Timber Carnegie Public Library

Geographic Coverage

Big Timber (Mont.); Sweet Grass County (Mont.)

Digital Collection

Big Timber Pioneer Newspaper

Digital Format

image/tiff

Digitization Specifications

Microfilm scanned at 300 dpi, 8 bit gray scale

Date Digitized

2013

Transcript

iltotoi
(tlcal W"
The Big Timber
«fc9"
O* o^>
VOL. 50 NO. 11
BIG TIMBER, SWEET GRASS COUNTY, MONTANA, THURSDAY, JANUARY 4, 1940
PRICE FIVE CENTS
TOLL OF EARTHQUAKE IN TURKEY
EXPECTED TO HIT SIXTY THOUSAND
ANKARA. Turkey, Dec. 28.—Three
additional tremors, subzero weather
and blizzard winds which spread
fires added to the damage and
panic of the Anatolian earthquake
Thursday as officials gave at least
60,000 as their preliminary estimate of casualties.
Of the casualties perhaps 20,000
were counted as dead. Temperatures '22 -degrees below zero and
fierce winds whipped from the
Black sea claimed many victims
among the hundreds of thousands
of homeless driven into the fields
and mountain fastnesses.
Whole villages were buried under
the steep cliffs of the Janik mountains which skirt the Black sea
shore on the Turkish - Armenian
border.
In the Erzincan region, high in
the mountains of Armenia, alone
there were 42,000 killed and injured.
Every building in the district of
Erzincan was in ruins, and fires
were raging. A message from the
governor general said many were
frozen to death.
The water supply was frozen and
prevented effective Are fighting.
Reports from other districts indicated the death toll elsewhere
was far above previous estimates,
but the chaos in communications
was so great it was impossible to
obtain many details of the catastrophe.
Such details as officials were able
to obtain, however, painted a terrifying picture.
Water and gas mains were ripped
asunder as the earth bulged in
some places and burst open in gaping crevices in others.
The measure of the disaster in
Anatolia, a region often visited by
earthquakes—along with the fear
of epidemics as a result of the difficulties of getting relief to the
stricken thousands, grew as the
day advanced.
Fragmentary reports from Erzincan province said virtually every
one of the 16,000 inhabitants of the
ancient town of that name was
killed or injured.
They were trapped in their beds
by the first shocks.
The walls of just one building—
the great barracks — were left
standing. The town was destroyed'
by another quake in 1784.
In Sivas Vilayet, the little town
of Zara had 1,500 inhabitants killed and 1.000 houses destroyed.
The quakes caused frightful destruction in Hank, Bayburt, Suseh-
ri, Sharkishla, Kuyuluhissar, Terd-
can, Trabzon, Vakfikebir, Machke,
and Kirasun.
LIQUOR BUSINESS MADE
RECORD ON DECEMBER 23
HELENA, Dec. 30. —The largest
volume of business handled by
Montana liquor stores in one day
since the inception of the state
liquor law was done Saturday, December 23, the liquor control board
announced Friday.
Total business for the Saturday
before Christmas amounted to
$151,000.
L. M. A. Wass, state liquor administrator, said one of the principal factors in the sudden spurt
probably was the weather. Sales for
the holiday season were running
about normal until the cold wave
moved in. Then business rocketed
on the final pre-Christmas day the
stores were open.
The board Friday declared a
$450,000 December dividend and announced that in addition there
would be about $60,000 available
from the liquor excise tax and
about $10,000 from the beer tax,
making more than half a million
dollars which goes into the general
fund during December.
The board voted to close the
state liquor store at Glacier park
station, adjacent to the Blackfeet
Indian reservation.
Officials feared that hundreds of
thousands were wandering in open
fields without shelter, prey of constant snowfall and bitter cold.
The ministers of health and interior left Ankara for Erzincan and
several medical squads were sent
to the stricken region from near-by
Vilayets, A national emergency
committee was gathering funds and
directing rescue work.
Martial law was proclaimed
throughout the quake district and
military and police squads patrolled
with orders to shoot anyone caught
looting.
As special trains arrived with
nurses, doctors and relief workers
many children were found hiding
in the woods, in a miserable condition from cold, hunger and fright.
. Panic still was strong, and many
of the population were seen prostrate in prayer before collapsed
mosques.
The first report was that total
quake casualties for the whole of
Anatolia had been estimated unofficially at 9,000 persons.
As advices continued to trickle
into the capital, officials revised
the estimate and said there were
indications the dead would go far
Continued on Page Four
WHEAT EXPORT SUBSIDY
PROGRAM ABANDONED
WASHINGTON, Dec. 29. —Prospects of a short crop and a wide
spread between domestic and world
price levels led the agriculture department to abandon its wheat export subsidy program today.
Secretary Wallace announced
that after 12 noon (mountain
standard time) next Wednesday,
the agriculture department would
pay a subsidy only on the export of
flour from Pacific coast ports to
the Philippine islands.
Since inauguration of the program in August, 1938. in an effort
to regain and hold the United
States' '"fair s h a r e" of foreign
markets, the department has paid
a bounty on 128,250,000 bushels of
wheat at a cost of about $33,000,-
000. The subsidy rate on some recent sales was as high as 33 cents
a bushel.
Unless there is a drastic change
in the relation between American
and foreign wheat prices, little or
no additional wheat will move
abroad, officials said. Domestic
prices have been running between
30 and 35 cents a bushel above
world prices, thereby placing American grain at a market disadvantage.
Wallace credited the subsidy program and the government's commodity loan policies with preventing domestic prices from falling
to the world level.
MONTANA RANKS HIGH IN
FEDERAL AID RECEIVED
HELENA, Dec. 30. — The federal
government loaned and spent more
than $89,000,000 in Montana during
fiscal year 1939, which ended last
June 30.
Miles Romney, state director of
the office of government reports,
said Saturday 1939 disbursements
totaled $89,131,357, compared with
$79,441,955 spent in fiscal 1938.
Of the total, $28,267,234 was loaned, and $60,864,123 grants - in - aid
and other expenditures.
In addition the federal housing
administration insured $2,050,087
worth of housing improvement
notes and mortgages in the state
during the year.
The largest amount of loans was
made by the farm credit administration and the greatest amount of
direct expenditures was disbursed
by the WPA.'
Montana ranked twentieth in all
states in the amount of loans and
seventeenth in the amount of expenditures.
Five Hundred Persons at Simpson
Hanging at Ryegate on Saturday
RYEGATE, Dec. 30.—Lee Simpson,
51-year-old Ryegate rancher who
marked 16 persons for death, died
on the gallows for slaying a man
not on his purge list.
He was executed for the murder
of Deputy Sheriff Arthur Burford
in a gun battle at the Simpson
ranch April 14, 1938.
The trap was sprung at 2:14 a. m.,
and Simpson was pronounced dead
at 2:30 a. m.
Sheriff E. L. Dolve, whose name
headed Simpson's "purge list"
sprang the trap, plummeting the
condemned man into eternity.
Dressed in dark trousers and a
gray shirt, Simpson stepped directly from a courthouse window to the
gallows steps.
He climbed to the scaffold accompanied by the Rev. E. L. Mills
of Roundup and Deputy Sheriff
Verne Meigs of Livingston.
Mr. Mills said, "by special request of Mr. Simpson, I will offer a
brief prayer."
The prayer concluded, Sheriff
Dolve said, "No one is to speak
when Mr. Simpson says anything.
We want no response from the
audience."
Turning to Simpson he asked,
Edward B. Douthett Located In Jail at
Wrangcllt Alaska, Through Finger Prints
County Attorney E. O. Overland
was notified yesterday that Edward
B. Douthett, charged with rape upon the person of Mrs. Don' Geiger
at Grey Cliff the night of November
5, 1937, is now in jail at Wrangell,
Alaska, where G-men Identified
him by finger prints.
He is serving a sentence in jail at
that place on a federal charge, and
will not be released until the latter part of March. He will then be
returned to this city for trial on
a charge of rape.
On Sunday, November 6, 1937,
Douthett, who had been keeping
his eye open following the assault of the night before, saw the
Geigers drive into town, and immediately took a car belonging to
Virginia Langston, who had left
the auto at the Douthett home
when she started east, and skipped.
The following day the sheriff's office at Billings reported that
Douthett had driven the Langston
car into a garage of that city
about midnight Sunday.
That was the last heard of him
except occasional reports to G-men
that he had been at various places.
However, they continued to be on
the lookout and finally located him
as above stated.
At the time of the alleged rape,
Geiger and his wife were living in
Columbus and were furnishing
music for dances. They are now in
Helena, where she is a federal employe.
President Delivers Message Personally to
Opening Session of Congress Wednesday
WASHINGTON, Jan. 3.—A stronger national defense financed by
new taxes, a continuation of new
deal policies, and a national unity
reinforced by "calmness, tolerance
and cooperative wisdom" were urged upon congress Wednesday by
President Roosevelt, m a message
personally delivered to the newly-
convened session.
These things, backed by an extension of the administration's authority to reduce tariffs by agreement with other countries, should
be sufficient, he said, to protect
the nation against any tendency
toward dictatorship at home and
"world - wide forces of disinegra-
tion" as well.
For the rest. Mr. Roosevelt pledged anew his determination to keep
the United States out of the war
abroad, and let it be known, to the
ironical cheers of the republican
membership that the budget to be
submitted Thursday would include
a reduction in all important items
except that of national defense.
Highlights of President Roosevelt's annual message to congress
were:
On national defense: "Substantial increases based not on panic
but on common sense" will be asked for the army and navy.
On peace: The United States
must "be a potent and active factor
in seeking the reestablishment of
peace."
On war: Roots of the war are to
be found in mismanagement of social and economic forces "u n t i 1
they have resulted in revolution,
dictatorship and war."
On taxes: "I am asking the congress to levy sufficient additional
taxes to meet the emergency spending for national defense."
On unemployment: Idle youth
"must be an especial concern of
democratic government."
On dictatorship: "The philosophy
of force . . . originated in almost
every case in the necessity for
drastic action to improve internal
conditions."
On the United States participation in the war: "The United States
will not become involved" militarily.
On the budget: The only increase
is for defense, "practically all other
important items show a reduction."
• On reciprocal trade treaties: "The
trade agreements act should be extended" to aid in organizing durable peace.
FARM RUREAU
DATES IN COUNTY
Farm Bureau meetings are held
each month for the purpose of
stimulating interest socially and
for the betterment of the communities and county in an agricultural
way and to encourage cooperation
on all matters of public interest
concerning the general welfare of
the county. Farmers are urged to
attend these meetings and everyone is welcome.
The schedule for the next meetings is as follows:
Deer Creek school house, January
5, Subject, soil conservation.
Chas. Mosier's house, January 9.
subjects, weed control and rural
electrification.
Glasston school house, January
19, subject soil conservation. ,,
Rapstad school house, January 26,
subject, soil conservation.
Howie school house, January 31,
subject, soil conservation.
HIGHWAY IMPROVEMENT
MONEY ALLOCATED
CHARLES EDISON NAMED
SECRETARY OF NAVY
' WASHINGTON, Dec. 30. —President Rosevelt advanced Charles
Edison to secretary of the navy
Saturday, putting an end to speculation over the delayed choice for
the cabinet post vacated by the
death last July of Secretary Claude
Swanson.
Assistant secretary for more than
three years. Edison had been acting head of the navy department
for nearly six months.
The appointment will be submitted formally to the senate for confirmation after congress convenes
next week.
Edison, wealthy, unassuming son
of the famous electrical inventor.
Thomas A. Edison, has supervised
the navy's intensive warship building program as assistant secretary
•since Nov. 17, 1936. He is 49.
"Have you anything to say?"
Simpson answered, "I want to
praise God I am being taken out of
this world of sin tonight and I feel
confident that you people will meet
us all up there. God bless you all
"Pray for my loved ones. That is
all."
The black hood was slipped over
his head. As the noose was adjusted, a muffled, "Don't choke me"
was heard.
. An instant later the trap was
sprung.
Almost until the march to the
gallows started, Simpson clung to
a faint hope that something would
save him even though his appeal
to Governor Roy E. Ayers for clemency had been denied.
As the trap was sprung the tense
crowd of 500 witnesses surged toward the gallows.
Dr. E. R. Fouts, county coroner,
and Dr. A. A. Bennett of Roundup
pronounced the man dead and the
body was taken to a mortuary here.
At no time did Simpson appear
to lose the composure he maintained from the time he heard the jury
I verdict which made the death sentence mandatory.
(Continued on pag* S)
WASHINGTON, Dec. 30. — The
federal works agency Saturday allocated $156,000,000 to 48 states, the
District of Columbia, Porto Rico
and Hawaii for highway Improvement and elimination of grade
crossings.
The projects were authorized by
congress on June 8, 1938, in an act
providing $115,000,000 for Improvement of the federal aid highway
system and its extensions through
cities; $15,000,000 for improvement
of secondary or feeder roads, and
$30,000,000 for elimination of hazards at railway grade crossings.
Allocations totaling $2,000,000 for
construction of roads on public
lands and federal reservations in 13
western states also were made.
Carmody said the new allocations
would finance the improvement of
approximately 9,786 miles on rural
portions of the federal aid system;
2,971 miles of secondary or "farm
to market roads, and 725 miles of
highway through municipalities.
He estimated that about 468 grade
crossings would be eliminated or
improved.
The allocations include:
Montana, $3,031,660; Nebraska,
$3,154,631; Wyoming, $1,825,100.
The allotments of public land
funds included:
Montana, $107,034; Wyoming,
$165,990.
HOLIDAY DEATH TOLL
UP TO USUAL FORM
EIGHTEEN DIE WHEN FIRE RAZES
MINNEAPOLIS APARTMENT HOUSE
MINNEAPOLIS, Jan. 3.—A cigarette tossed down a garbage chute
was blamed Wednesday night for
fire that claimed at least 18 lives
at the Marlborough apartment hotel in the worst disaster in this
city's history.
Only 12 victims had been identified as firemen prodded about in
the wreckage of the three-story,
45-year-old building, seeking the
bodies of possible additional victims.
Red Cross workers said there
were 114 persons in the building
when the fire broke out Of these.
18 were known dead, 24 were registered at hospitals, 53 had registered with the Red Cross as cither
uninjured or slightly injured, and
19 were unaccounted for.
First warning of the tragedy was
a rumbling explosion shortly before
6 a. m., followed almost instantly
by a burst of flame that choked the
halls and stairways and blocked escape of many of the residents.
The blast, said Arthur Spotts-
wood, head of the fire department's
fire prevention division, apparently
was caused by garbage smouldering
in a storage chute in the center of
the building, bursting into flame
and blowing out of the chute in a
"heat explosion." Spottswoocl said
the garbage probably was ignited
by a cigarette stub tossed down the
chute some hours earlier.
WHEELER FOR P.UESIDENT
CLUB BEING FORMED
HELENA, Dec. 29.—Formation of
a Wheeler for President club of
Montana has been announced by
J. Burke Clements, of Helena,
chairman of the state industrial
accident commission, who will serve
as president.
"Realizing the impetus of the
movement for Senator Wheeler as
a candidate for the democratic
nomination for president of the
United States, those of us in the
senator's home state determined to
launch this organization" Clements, a close friend of Senator
Wheeler, said upon his return from
Washington.
In Washington, Clements said,
he spent several days in conversations with the senator. -
"We are launching this club and
we're going after delegates to the
democratic national convention
even though we know Senator
Wheeler is an announced candidate for re-election in 1940 and expects to file his nomination petition shortly with the secretary of
state in Helena.
"We have been in communication with a large number of prominent Montana democrats who have
been asked to serve on the executive committee of our organization.
The response has been gratifying.
Barclay Craighead, former private secretary to Senator Wheeler,
will act as temporary secretary.
"We hope to carry out a swift
campaign of organization in Montana and then go into other states
where we will endeavor to obtain
instructed delegates."
MRS. ROOSEVELT REFUSES
NEWSPAPER GUILD JOB
FARLEY CALLS DEMOCRATS
TO MEET FEBRUARY 5
The old man with the scythe
lopped off more than 280 lives on
his way out.
Of this number of deaths in 42
states and the District of Columbia,
128 were caused by traffic accidents.
At least 22 saw fit to destroy themselves and 21 persons chose the
week end of the year's end to slay
others. Fires claimed 12 lives and
freezing, gas, falls, trains and
other elements caused 182 deaths.
California, with 32 deaths, was an
undisputed favorite of Father Time.
He took along 17 in traffic accidents,
six suicides and nine others.
The death list by states follows
Alabama 1, Arizona 3, Arkansas
2, Colorado 6, Connecticut 9, Delaware 2, District of Columbia 1,
Florida 3, Georgia 4, Illinois 20, Indiana 8, Kansas 1, Kentucky 6, Louisiana 9, Maine 1, Maryland. 4, Massachusetts 3, Michigan 14, Minnesota 5, Missouri 13, Montana 1, Nebraska 1, New Hampshire 1. New
Jersey 9, New Mexico 1, New York
16, North Carolina 8, Ohio 12. Oklahoma 5, Oregon 6, Pennsylvania 19,
South Carolina 2, South Dakota 2,
Tennessee 11, Texas 3. Utah 3. Virginia 2, Washington 9. West Virginia 3, Wisconsin 6, Wyoming 4.
SAYS HAPPY NEW YEAR
TO DELINQUENT DEBTORS
WASHINGTON, Dec. 30.—Chairman James A. Farley Friday called
a meeting of the democratic national committee for February 5
to settle the much discussed question of just when the party should
hold its nominating convention.
There has been talk in both major
parties of departing from the usual
practice of fixing the conventions
for June, with some influential
members of each advocating a
much later date and a short campaign.
GREAT FALLS, Dec. 29.—Frank
A. Bladorn is going to say "Happy
New Year" this time with something more than a broad smile.
Bladorn, a railroad engineer and
proprietor of a local hotel says he
is going to cancel the debts now
owed to him by more than 30 persons. He said some of the debtors
owe him for loans as high as $150.
In return, all he asks is that
each of the recipients of his generosity give him any documents they
have relating to debts.
Bladorn said the sums total about
$2,000.
"I wish to start the New Year
with a clean slate, and this will
Ri*e my debtors a better opportunity during the coming year" he
exDlaknod.
^.-^ 'j •
DENVER, Dec. 30.—Mrs. Eleanor
Roosevelt advised the Denver guild
of the American Newspaper guild
Saturday she could not accept a
nomination to succeed the late
Heywood Broun as president of the
American Newspaper guild.
Mrs Roosevelt, wife of the nation's president and a newspaper
columnist, was nominated for the
guild position Friday by the Denver guild's executive board.
Dick Henry, Denver guild president, received a telegram from Mrs.
Roosevelt which said:
"Absolutely impossible for me to
take fulltime job so could not even
consider the position you suggested."
The flames spread so r a p i d 1 v
through the brick-veneered building that many occupants had to
leap from windows. Several died
and many were injured jumping
from second and third-story windows.
Bodies of other victims, m a n y
charred beyond recognition, were
discovered later in tlie ruins.
Identified dead were:
Gust Mathis.
Mrs. Helen Franke, about 50.
Gerhart Franke.
Otto Franke, 25
Rene Franke, 19.
Edward Coovert, 10 months.
Mrs. Mabel Brown, 34.
Florence Hessing, 30.
George Jackley, 45.
Pinka Jackley, 41.
Clayton Weisell, 48.
Elbert Weisell. 47.
Every available piece of fire apparatus and ambulance answered
the alarm. The temperature was
five below zero, coldest here this
winter.
As firemen struggled to run ice-
coated hose lines to the building,
the scene was one of hysterical
tragedy. In the second and third
floor apartments men and women
smashed the glass out of windows
and leaned out, screaming for help.
Many jumped before ladders could
be put up to them.
Residents of rooms on the ground
floor scrambled through the windows to safety, aided by neighbors
and passersby who helped them to
reach shelter. Many were dressed
only in night clothes.
Otto Knaack. janitor at the apartment, said his first warning of the
fire came when he opened the door
of the boiler room and was knocked flat by an explosion that broke
all the windows in the room. By the
time he had run upstairs to rouse
his family, he said, the hallways
and stairs were already choked
with flames.
All that remained nf the building was the ice-covered shell. The
roof collapsed during the fire, and
most of the floors had fallen. Firemen feared they would find more
bodies under the debris.
Their search was spurred by the
fact that several persons known or
believed to have been inside when
the fire started were missing
Among them were Mrs. Nick Sund-
holm, whose husband, from his
hospital bed, told of leaping1 from
a second story window after she
refused to jump.
UNEMPLOYMENT IS
ECONOMIC PROBLEM
WASHINGTON, Dec. 29.— The
American Federation of Labor said
today that getting the unemployed
back to work was the No. 1 economic problem for 1940. and suggested a conference of business,
labor, farm and consumer representatives for co-operative action
to that end.
If industrial production could be
increased 25 per cent above the
1929 level, the AFL's monthly survey of business said, there would
be jobs for virtually all the 9,000,-
000 unemployed and a higher
standard of living for the entire
population.
"As we look forward to the task
of increasing production and putting the unemployed to work one
point stands out clearly" the review added. "Private industry cannot plan to increase production
without some assurance as to the
future.
"In the present circumstances,
with war in Europe and a presidential election ahead, certainty as to
the future is, of course, not possible. It is possible, however, for a
conference of responsible representatives from business, labor,
farmers and consumers to lay the
basis for co-operation to increase
production and thus to give more
assurance as to the future than
could otherwise be possible."
Southern California Trojans Win
Annual Rose Bowl Football Classic
ROSE BOWL, Pasadena, Calif..
Jan. 1.—The orange and white of
Tennessee drooped in defeat Monday night for the first time in two
long years, and there was gloom
and sadness in the Volunteer state
of the south, for the mighty Trojans of Southern California defeated its team.
Flashing a relentless attack that
soelled power and more power, the
Trojan giants of the west crushed
the valiant Vols, 14 to 0. in a game
that kept a howling, capacity
throng of 92,000 on edge for 60
minutes.
One savage burst of strength in
the second quarter broke the Tennessee record of never a score
against it, much less a defeat, in 16
games, and when the Vols turned
loose a whirlwind parade late in
the fourth period, luck was against
them.
A fumble, Southern California recovered—and the Warriors of Troy,
ringing up their sixth triumph in
this post-season classic, traveled 85
yards in 20 plays for the second
touchdown.
Hero of the Trojan victory was
the lad "who came back" Amblln*
Ambrose Schindled, 190 pounds of
battering ability from San Diego,
Calif., who scored the first touchdown and passed over the goal line
for the second.
On the receiving end of that pass,
which c a m e as darkness drifted
over the roaring throng, was Antelope Al Krueger, the substitute end
who caught? the pass that brought
defeat to Duke in this bowl one
year ago.
Tennessee with its star back,
George Cafego, playing intermittently but never up to his old form,
was unable to get across the 50-
yard stripe until early in the final
quarter. The offense that had
whipped 23 teams in succession
couldn't penetrate the Trojans.
Suddenly the Vols came to life in
the fourth period after they had
been forced back to the one-yard
line by Quarterback Grenville
Landsdell's coffin corner kick.
Johnny Butler, standing back in
the end zone, passed the team out
of danger, and the Vols roared on
in a sustained drive to the Trojan
29-yard line — and Bob Newman,
fullback, fumbled.
Roy Engle. Trojan sub, recovered
on his own 15, and the Warriors of
(Continued on page 8)